Kyle Larson wants to race in NASCAR because he wants to follow the path of such star drivers as Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne.

That path includes racing outside of NASCAR, too.

Kyle Larson is a proven winner, taking the checkered flag in 29 different races on various levels in 2012. (AP Photo)

The 20-year-old Larson competed in more than 125 races—including 29 victories—in 2012 racing everything from Dirt Late Models to winged Sprint cars to Camping World Truck Series events. Not even 10 percent of his races came in the series where he won the title as Larson captured the 2012 NASCAR K&N Pro Series East crown.

“It would be tough just running only once or twice a week,” said Larson, who headed to New Zealand over the Christmas holidays just to race.

The California native is considered a top, if not the top, prospect in NASCAR. Tony Stewart is a big fan and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Larson driving for Stewart one day although Larson reportedly has seven years left on a development contract with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing.

In 2011, he won 22 races combined in the World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, all three USAC national divisions, and in the American Sprint Car Series.

He made his most noticeable mark by winning in Silver Crown, sprint cars, and Midgets all in one night at Stewart’s Eldora Speedway.

That led to his ride at Rev Racing, where Larson, who is half-Japanese, was eligible to race as part of NASCAR’s diversity program.

Larson won the first title for the diversity program this year, a huge accomplishment for that organization. He won two races, including a hard-fought race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, with veteran Randy Goss as his crew chief.

“They have really good equipment and a lot of experienced crew chiefs and car chiefs and members on the team,” Larson said. “They're kind of ex-Cup guys, so that helped out a lot, to be able to work with those guys. … It was really nice to be able to go race at tracks that hopefully I'll be racing at for years to come in the Truck or Nationwide and on into the Cup Series.”

Larson competed in four truck races with three top-10s, including a second at Phoenix. He led 43 laps at Phoenix and 48 at Homestead.

His 2013 plans are still to be determined but he needs more time in the trucks to learn how to race on the radial tires.

“This is my first year in stock cars, so I've learned a lot,” Larson said. “I've really learned how to race side-by-side with guys for a few laps before you can actually get by them because with the Sprint car stuff, you just blow right past them and don't waste any time passing them.

“I've learned that, and I've really learned patience.”

That was most true on his run to the K&N East title. He was 20 points (in the old points system) out of first with four races remaining. He was leading going into the final race at Rockingham but was running too far back late in the event and it appeared Brett Moffitt would win the championship. But Moffitt was involved in a wreck on the final lap and Larson’s sixth-place finish was good enough for the crown.

The transition to trucks will take time even though Larson already has shown he has a good feel for them. He has led laps but he also made a mistake at Homestead by driving in too hard into a turn while battling championship contender Ty Dillon for position. Larson ended up wrecking and Dillon’s championship hopes were ruined.

“It’s really difficult just because I’m not used to these yet,” Larson said earlier in the season. “The aerodynamics are a huge factor and the radial tires are different than what I’ve ever ran.

“They just react different. The winged sprint cars relate a little bit to the tracks because they have the big wing on top. The air is always dirty when you’re behind people so you always have got to try and find clean air.”

Why is Larson even racing in NASCAR? There are some who think he could be the next great thing in IndyCar racing.

But Larson wants to race where Stewart, Kahne and Jeff Gordon race. They excelled on the dirt tracks in open-wheel cars before they went Cup racing.

“There for a while growing up I wanted to run Indy cars but once I started racing and paying attention to it, I paid a lot more attention to stock-car racing and NASCAR,” Larson said. “That’s kind of what I wanted to do. … All the guys that grew up racing the stuff that I’m racing now, I always wanted to race with them in stock cars.

“That’s why I would like to race NASCAR more than anything. (But) the Indy 500 would be a blast. The good thing with Ganassi is they have Indy cars so maybe some day I can get that opportunity.”

For now, he’s focused on stock cars.

“I'm not the type to really go out there and ask drivers what they do to go faster,” Larson said. “If I really feel like I'm out in left field, I might go ask. But as far as getting tips and stuff, I don't really do that.

“Tony (Stewart) helped a little bit this year with guiding my career path and what he thought I needed to do this year.”

Stewart has advice for Larson’s competition.

“(I) watched Kyle drive for three different teams and win all three divisions (in 2011) and he had never been to Eldora before,” said Stewart, who has had Larson in his Sliver Crown car. “It was just something that caught the whole open-wheel crowd by storm.

“… I’ve spent some time with the kid. I really like him and I think he’s going to be really good.”